Thursday, July 2, 2009

Check out this weekend’s don’t-miss movies

By Alex Bentley , John P. Meyer

Alex and I are covering five new movies opening in Dallas-Fort Worth this holiday weekend, two of which have already bowed: Public Enemies and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (which may be the most nonsensical title ever, from a paleontological accuracy standpoint).

PLUS, for a limited time only (limited, specifically, to the period of time it takes for someone to respond with the correct answer), we're giving away a DVD copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to the first person, interest group, or noncorporeal entity who correctly matches up the keywords listed below to the movies with which they have been associated by Alex and myself. (All judges decisions are final. And we are the judges.)

(HINT: the first two can be nailed down by scanning our existing reviews, and the other three should be obvious to all but the most profoundly doltish. In other words, this is going to be a piece of cake for whoever reads this article first and decides they actually want a copy of the Harry Potter DVD.)

* First on our weekend hit list is Public Enemies, which finds Michael Mann recovering nicely from his last muddled directorial outing (the snoozable Miami Vice) with a film that's not nearly so muddled; which, in fact, redeems itself from an early tendency towards episodic choppiness by coming through in the last hour (of its 140 minute run-time) with some bravura thrills. Good acting, fascinating characters and - perhaps most importantly of all - great gunfights!

THIS JUST IN: A derringer taken from John Dillinger at the time of his capture by police in Tucson, AZ in 1934 -- a key event in the movie -- is being auctioned off by Dallas-based Heritage Galleries (auction end date: July 25). The little two-shooter is expected to garner between $35,000 and $45,000.

* Next up is Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, about which Alex has this (and more!) to say:

Ice Age's animation has always been “fugly,” and in Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, so is the story. Why they chose to go the dinosaur route is strange, since the series had already established that dinosaurs had been long extinct in their world (not to mention that the title seems to suggest that the dinosaurs are coming into existence for the first time).

The film semi-succeeds, but its thrills are short-lived, and the rest of the movie tries to survive on a succession of jokes that were clever in the first film, but have grown tiresome the third time around. Even the normally-reliable antics of Scrat the squirrel have worn out their welcome.

The recycled and uninspired nature of Dawn of the Dinosaurs proves that they need to let this series die out.

* The Girl from Monaco (per Alex)

It's usually nice to break up a string of American films with something foreign, but The Girl from Monaco is a hodge-podge of genres that never seem to jell into a complete whole. It's a strange amalgam of comedy and drama in which writer/director Anne Fontaine tries to have it both ways, even though she ignores the drama for the majority of the film.

Even the best acting (two of the star were nominated for Cesars, the French equivalent of the Oscars) can't save the film from its storytelling faults -- which is a shame, as sticking to one genre or the other could have made for a successful film.

* Moon (per John)

Duncan Jones is David Bowie's son -- which is apropos of nothing in terms of this movie, but it's an interesting factoid, nonetheless. His feature film debut is an atmospheric, thinking person's sci fi film which pays homage to others in the genre, such as 2001, Silent Running and Outland.

Sam Rockwell carries the show -- but then, as the one-and-only resident of the lunar base in which all the action takes place -- he'd better.

* Revanche (per John)

I actually tried to watch this movie (on DVD screener) at PegNews World HQ, but five minutes into it I'd already streaked past my self-imposed nude-scene safety-margin for film-viewing-in-a-public-office environment. So I headed off to my home cinema where no one could possibly object to its salacious content. Coincidentally, my wife was working from home that day ... BUT that's another story.

This strangely subdued, Oscar-nominated Austrian film brings together a diverse set of characters, both rural country folk and seedy city dwellers. The initial scenes take place in a brothel (thus the rampant nakidity), but the rather slow-moving drama develops in an entirely unexpected direction and our surly protagonist soon finds himself chopping a lot of wood. German language, with subtitles.

________

AND NOW for the moment you've all been waiting for (drum roll, please!): Magic Woid Matchup! Simply match each of the five numbered films to the one-word descriptor that correctly applies to it, be the first to post your answer below in the comments section, and WIN THE POTTER DVD!

1. Public Enemies

2. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

3. The Girl from Monaco

4. Moon

5. Revanche

Magic Woids:

a. duplicity

b. rat-a-tat-tat

c. low-key

d. muddled

e. fugly

No animals were harmed in the posting of this story. (Except for that pesky tsetse fly.)

Related stories

• Dallas-based Heritage Auction Galleries sells Dillinger derringer for $95K (July 27, 2009)

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• Arts > Movies / Film

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